As a society, we tend to equate weight loss with health. But it’s just not the case. The truth is you can lose weight without being healthy, and you can be healthy without losing lots of weight.
So in case you are pinning your hopes and dreams on the next fad diet, here are the reasons to look at the bigger picture and focus on your overall health, not just the scales.
1. Short term vs. long term goals
Generally speaking, weight loss is about attaining a goal weight; this suggests a short-term goal. Once achieved, you can relax a little and hopefully manage to maintain that weight.
On the other hand, if your focus is on being healthy, you have a long-term, if not lifelong goal. Being healthy means more than just losing weight. It’s a holistic view of lifestyle changes. It could mean giving up smoking, reducing alcohol intake, exercising more regularly, drinking more water, going to bed earlier as well as eating healthier.
2. Losing weight doesn’t equal health
How many times have you heard about a new celebrity diet? There are so many fads diets it’s hard to know which one to choose. Most fad diets only focus on reducing weight and eliminate much-needed nutrients found in certain food that our bodies need.
The truth is we need a certain amount of carbohydrates and sugar to have our bodies at its optimum level. Any diet that is very restrictive and excludes too many foods is not healthy. You can recognise a fad diet by the marketing such as losing a certain amount of weight each week, especially if it excludes exercise. Pay careful attention if certain food groups are eliminated, as this could have unwanted side effects.
3. There can be other reasons for weight gain
You can gain weight for a variety of reasons, and for this reason, it shouldn’t be the only measurement you look at.
For example, when you do more exercise, particularly resistance training you will build more muscle. When you build muscle, the scales may tell you that you haven’t lost weight, or maybe that you’ve put on weight. But in this instance, it isn’t a gain of fat; it is a gain of muscle. If you were looking only at the scales and not your level of fitness, you would get discouraged by the number despite making significant progress with your overall health.
There can also be other reasons for gaining weight from medical issues and side effects to medical treatments, to a rise in stress and lack of sleep that can put your body out of balance. In this case, focusing on weight loss would only be treating a symptom, not the underlying cause.
4. When you focus on health, you naturally lose weight
By taking good care of your body, watching what you eat and changing unhealthy lifestyle habits, you will lose weight as a consequence.
With a focus on health as your long-term goal, all you need to do is start to make small changes each day. Start by eliminating foods that aren’t good for you and increase the ones that are. Reduce portion sizes, and increase exercise. Drink more water and go to bed a little earlier. Build in time for relaxation. By doing so, you and everyone around you will start to see a big difference!
5. The importance of nutritional cleansing
When you are focused only on your weight you can often look past what your body needs to get to what you want. But the truth is if you give your body what it needs, it will reward you with the health and weight loss you are looking for. One of these needs is nutritional cleansing.
Nutritional cleansing works by feeding your body specific nutrients that help you release harmful impurities that slow down your metabolism and cause more serious health issues. A cleansed and revitalised body is stronger, resists illness better, is more efficient and performs at a higher level than one that is filled with impurities.
You can also enjoy the benefits of greater energy, a reduction in cravings for unhealthy food, consistent weight loss over time, balanced digestion and improved muscle tone.
I can testify on how great you feel after a nutritional cleansing. If you are interested and want to know more feel free to send an email to enquiries@jenniferjefferies.com and I’ll share what I do and the products I use.
